«Symposion» and «Philanthropia» in Plutarch - Bad Request ...

Plutarch’s Techne Rhetorike for the symposium in Quaestiones Convivalesimportant to avoid errors when speaking (QC I 1.1, 613a). As Simonides saysto one of his interlocutors who remained silent, it may even be preferable tosay nothing if one runs the risk of saying something inappropriate:Σιμωνίδης ὁ ποιητής, ὦ Σόσσιε Σενεκίων, ἔν τινι πότῳ ξένον ἰδὼνκατακείμενον σιωπῇ καὶ μηδενὶ διαλεγόμενον, ‘ὦ ἄνθρωπ’’ εἶπεν, ‘εἰ μὲνἠλίθιος εἶ, σοφὸν πρᾶγμα ποιεῖς· εἰ δὲ σοφός, ἠλίθιον.’ ‘ἀμαθίην γὰρ ἄμεινον’ὥς φησιν Ἡράκλειτος [fr. 95] ‘κρύπτειν’. (QC III Praef. 1, 644e)When the poet Simonides at some drinking-party, my dear Sossius Senecio,saw a guest sitting in silence and holding no conversation with anyone, he said,‘Sir, if you are a fool, you are doing a wise thing; but if wise, a foolish thing.’ AsHeraclitus remarks, ‘it is containly better to conceal ignorance’ 25 .When one is ready to speak and is sure that the inuentio 26 is correct, theelocutio 27 of the speech must also conform to certain basic precepts. In the fourthquestion of the first book, Plutarch examines the qualities of the ideal directorof the feast. One of them is the ability to give brief and concise instructions(QC I 4.1, 620b). In fact, brevitas/βραχύτης 28 is one of characteristics stressedmost by treatises on rhetoric. It is required especially in the narrations of eventsand the presentation of arguments: in the first case, so that the explanationsshould not be excessively long and the thread of the story be lost, and in thesecond, so that the presentation should be energetic, vigorous, clear, and direct.Although Plutarch does not mention the point explicitly, his reproduction ofthe conversation of his dining companions suggests that the most importantfeatures of their interventions are moderation and brevity. This brevityshould not be considered as a lack of expressiveness, but as the need to avoidsuperfluity or irrelevance to the theme under discussion 29 and to make surethat a single speaker should not turn the conversation into a monologue andthus defeat the point of the banquet. In the arguments presented during thesymposiac gathering, Plutarch also recommends that speakers try to persuadetheir audiences rather than to demonstrate things to them; they should reservethe use of methods such as enthymemes or syllogisms 30 for situations thatrequire a more energetic and direct type of argumentation (QC I 1.4, 614c).25Translation taken from P. A. Clement & H. B. Hoffleit, 1969, p. 199.26The inuentio (εὕρεσις) is the part of rhetoric that analyses the elements that should beincluded in speeches; cf. Quint., Inst. III 3.1 and Hermog., Inv. 1.65.27The elocutio (λέξις) is the part of rhetoric that analyses how the thought and ideas in thespeech are expressed in language; cf. Arist., Rh. III 1 1403b, Quint., Inst.VIII 1.1.28Brevity is one of the main virtues of speeches in the simple style; cf. Demetr., Eloc. IV197-198, Cic., Inv. 1.28 and Quint., Inst. IV 2.31.29Quint., Inst. IV 2.42 notes that brevity does not imply speaking little, but that the speechshould not last longer than is strictly necessary. However, excessive brevity is considered anerror: the speaker may leave out important details.30Enthymemes and syllogisms are variations on the method of argumentation whichproceeds from deductions made on the basis of logical and dialectical premises and conclusions;cf. Arist., Rh. I 2 1356a-b and Quint., Inst.V 14.5.69